Apparatus for utilizing sulfur-containing petroleum.



J. E. EGGLESTON.

APPARATUS FOB UTILIZING SULFUR CONTAINING PETROLEUM.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 22, 1907.

Patented Dec. 29, 1908.

lvihwana 4/ UNITED s'TArrEs PATENT OFFICE.

Joan E. EGGLES'ION, or BAYONNE, NEW JERSEY, ASMGNQB 'ro s'r upaan on, cour nr, OF BAYONNE, NEW JERSEY, A ooaroa 'rion or new messy.

armaa'ros roa u'rnazms Banana-downsw ng, ran-omen.

No. 908,400. i

Specification of Letters Patent.

'l Patented Dec. 29, 1908,

Original application filed August 21, mos, Serial No. 170,857. Divided and um application and [arch 2a, 1001. Serial No. 868,868.

of New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Apparatus for Utilizing Sulfur-Containing Petroleum, of a which improvements the following is a specification. v

This invention relates more articularly to apparatus for utilizing the suffur content of such petroleumas is obtained from the oil fields in' the State of Texas, near the town of Beaumont, in Jefferson county. This oildiffers from Pennsylvania petroleum (amen other respects) in that it contains a nota le quantity (between ,one and two per cent, according to my experience) of su fur; whereas, Pennsylvania 011 is comarati-vely free from this element. It dif l rs from Lima,0hio, oil, which also contains a notable amount of sulfur, in that the sulfur exists in Beaumont oil in such form that it can be evolved as hydro en sulfid, whereas, in the case of Lima 01 it ,takes other forms. a

The expression Beaumont oil or Beaumont petroleum is'used herein for convenience of reference to indicate, not only the oil found near Beaumont,-bu t oil of-substantially similar composition wherever found or however obtained. It is evident, moreover, that there may be oil otherwise substantially difierent in com ositi'on from Beaumont oil, but analogous t eretlo in containing naturally a notab e quantity of sulfur which can be evolved as hydrogen sulfid.

The new and improved apparatus of this invention, also each of the new, useful and original parts, improvements and combinations :exhibited therein, is intended to be secured for all the uses to which the, same mav be 'ap licable. Omissions, and other e ia'nges' can be made indefinitely so long as the substan'ceis taken ofanfy one or more of the claims at the end 0 this specification. t I

.111 the accom anying drawings: Figure 1 is a diagram 0 such new or improved apparatus, and Fi 2,, a vertical longitudinal section of one o thestills; v

The crude sulfur-bearing Beaumont petreleum, or an analogous crude. oil, is su plied by pipe of? "Q9 9nd of tge -of t .e still sti; s being gas ine z, whic 'pa us .fq F .1 I as pipe from each worm has; abranch additions horizontally disposed cylinder still b, this latter being the first of a series of four tire heatedstills. 1t fills the still I) to above line, and overflows from its outlet and y the pipe 0 which conveys it to the inlet end of the sti l d. It similarly fills still al'and overflows from its outlet end by the ipe e which conveys it'to the inlet end outlet end {hereof bythepipe g, into still /L, at its inlet end. From the outlet end of still {L it overflows by the pipe 11. The supply pipe a, the overflow and supply pipes o e g, and the overflow pipe 5 are so'arran ed that the oil flowsby gravit throu h t e stills b, d, h. These ,shou d each old several barres ofoil eta-minimum. Stills with a chargi-n capacity of six hundred barrels (forty ga ions 'tothe barrel) of oil measured at F. have been found eflieient. In runnin the still 6 may hold 610 barrels, the stil' d 580 barrels, and the stills [and h 500'barrels each of oil measured at the,

res ctive still temperatures. The several heated, vapors and gas pass oil by the goose-necks," j, 'k, Z, m, to the correspondmg conde'us'i g worms n, a, p, q, whereint the iv-apors au as are so cooled as-to reduce the vapors o the liquid state and u t epar them f m the he quids pa l by e P e T a a se 01f by s'th h re a w, w, y, to h y-s eys e g l i s i u fu conten T 3, 4' 5, respectively, into'which thegni's is ma e to pass, by up ropriabe valves,

whenever it becomes too 'mpure for satisfactory utilization for its content of sulfur, instead of being allowed to proceed to the as linez. The gas thus s itched oil can e burned as fuel or dispos desired way. a

The heating of the several stills is lated as follows: the still b in such manner that the oil near the outlet has a temperature of about 3507 F., more or legs; the still from which it overflows at the y of in a y ioo cl in such manner that the tsgggerature of i he o l. se e o et is sof, mor

ari e n th t s-f a d '15 in' sh tha the oi e t e u et has a emperstux-e, resipective'ly, of about400" F,, ncreZor less, or still and. sh t 485 it- "9 95 -for still wi l 6 m thermometers for takinq the temperatures Free vsteam (ordinary ive steam from a boiler, or it may be exhaust steam, or steam more or less 511 erheated) is let through pipe 5 7 into the b y of oil in still h in small uantity, say, ten pounds of water in the orm of steam to each hundred pounds of crude oil admitted intostill 'b.

The hydrocarbons are evaporated less and the hydrogen sulfid evolved more in the still d than in those (6' and I) which precede and follow it; and the hydrogen sulfid from these latter is less pure than that from the middlestill d of 'theseries of three. According to my ex erience', the gas from Sluts 1; and f should about 84% or 85%, hydrogen sulfid', while that from still d should be over 96% khis substance The 'g'as'*from i e line 2 is delivered to a hydrogen sulfi burner 8, by the c'ombustioir'in whichsulfur d-ioxid and water (with insignificantamounts of carbonic acid from hydrocarbons present) are produced. The products of combustion ass to the lead chamber 9,- wherein the su fur dioxid is oxidize'd to sulfurioacid in'the known manner. 1 he said combustion products can be sent through a Glover-tower on their way to the le'ad charnber but, on account of the large irmount 'of water vapor present, this is not i ecommendedl The dilute chamber acid con ise concentrated inany known or suit able way. The products from burning the hyd-rbgen sulfid, instead of being sent into a lcatl' ohamber, could (after-"being suitably freed by known methods from more or less of tli'o-uurter vapor therein) be sent into a contact ap'aratus for oxidizing the sulf r dioXid-"in tile known way; or if it should 40 desired to utilize said products otherwise thanlih making sulfur-ic'acid, they could be subjeilted toappropriate known operations in any known or suitable a paratus for the purqilsa If it should be esired to utilize the: 'ydrbien sulfi'd', without burning, the gasirlomst e worms-mo, p, q- (one or more 01 themlicould be subjected to known 0 erations, approprriate toisuch utilization o the sulfa-iricontentofj-said' gas, in any known or suitalale ap aratus.

,, 'llhehdisti 'lates from the worms n, 0, and, s11; dlmslsts eaeh of lightenhydrocarbons be-' i o ngingato theburnmg oil fraction of the Beaumont or analogous petroleum. Inmy ex 'enoe thiose iromitheworms a and a Call-2" f ;,lu.sed,ein llau'i'n'ing oil, after the ori Adina I- ,asulfuric acid treatment; whereas,-the

distil aliestfroua wormsp and; q would have to heisnudsalqss smoky other means be- 150 foreigtheytwould;be... suitable for' such use,

izialtheyi shouldable added to such a pro- :nportiomcfiin n smok-mg cites to make anonsmoking mixture isuchia mixture could be made, for example, I with Pennsylvania oil.

66 .Thesamount of the nod-smel ing distillate 'ineans rnnarily three or-more stills, which from worms n and o'would be insufiicient by itself; to make a non-smoking mixture it mixed with the smoky distillate from worms 9 and q, as I have obtained it. The reduced oil from the oil outlet i of still It will (according to my experience? he in volume about 90% of the crude ,oi let into still b, about 10%.of the latter being obtained as distillate, and have a sulfur content of about a half per cent. as against about one and six-tenths er cent. in the crude oil. Such reduced oi can bemade into burning oil (kerosene) orl'other etrbleum products; or it can be used asuel, if this should be found more profitable. In either case it will have been imp! ved by the removal (in part) of its sulfurt; ntent.

In\v the hereinafte written claims where the following express ans occur they have the-followih respective meanings: The expressiom sti l as specified means primarily one in the form of an elongated horizontally disposed cylinder with oil inlet-at or near one end and 'oil outlet at or near the other,- the outlet being formed by an overflow pi 90 receiving oil from the lower part of the sti 1 so that a compact body of oil, amounting at a minimum to seyeralbarrels, is-maintained in the still. By passing a streamoi'oil and out of such a still it ecomes a'continuone one in contradistinction to the intermittent still which is the common form for oil distillation and which is filled, worked oil, emptied and filled againfor a newrun. The. ex ression still as specified includes also (1 a box like still in general with an overflow oil outlet. so as to keep a compact; body of oil in the still, and (2) yet more generally a still of any known or equivalent form w ich is: mean be adapted to continuous working. By passing a'st'reainof the crude sulfur? containing oil through a still as specified? at proper temperature, the oil exposed to the heat is constantly changing with the incoming and outgoing oil. If a box like still provided with an overflow; oil outlet is used,

this constantly changing oilis in the advantageous form of .a compact body much greater'in cross 'sect-ionthaxi the stream of oil which enters and leavesf the same; while with a? still as specified, primarily intended, the oil is exposed ii nder what are considered the best conditions.

The expression specified'series of stills on several y are as specificd,, to wit, as just defined above, and which have the oiloutlet of each connected; with the oil inlet ofgthe next: so as to form; a settles; but it includes 1' 2? "also a series at at the 'leasttwu such stills'so connected; for a two, stills is more beneficial than 'ii'siligfle althouigh less so than a seriesof eior more stil The Bull? of claims a d 0 may Bebf}- any known or suitable form adapted to rcceive a free steam Inlet, or, in other words, a p pe or its equivalent for mtroducing free steam into the liquid or the vapor space, or into the liquid and vapor spaces of he 'still.

The expression 5 apparatus use )ecified for utilizing the sulfur content of hydrogen sulfid means,primarily one or more apparatus for converting, such content into sulfuric acid, that is to say, for burning the hydro gen sulfid and for oxidizing the resulting sulfur dioxid, with or without preliminarily cooling the hydrogen sultid to condense and so to separntitherefrom the oil vapors; and said expression also includes one or more apparatus for utilizing said content in other ways, such as preparation of sulfur, of sulfite and bisultite salts, sulfurous acid solutions, and so on, with or without a combustion of the hydrogen sullid, according to the case, and also with or without a preliminary cooling of the gas to condense and so to se ar'ate therefrom the oil vapors.

he use of the singular number as a still, one of which, and the like, is not intended to exclude the use of more than one of the devices referred to; and conversely the use of the plural number is not-intended to exclude the use of only one of the contemplated devices. Of course, where there is a series, there must be at least two of t'heseries elements; andwhere there are separate worms for the respective stills of a series there must be two worms at the least.

The present application" is a division and continuation of my application of August 21 1903, No. 170,357, and has been made soiely in consequence of official requirement of division.

I claim as my invention or discovery:

1. The combination with a continuous crude oil still as specified, and its condenser, of a hydrogen sulfid' burner, an apparatus for oindizing sulfur dioxid, ancla gas line leadi burnel to said apparatus, described.

2. 'Ilhe combination with a continuous crude il still as specified, of apparatus for utilizi the sulfur content of hydrogen sulfid, and a gas line between said still .and said a paratus, substantially as described.

, 3. he combination with continuous crude oil stills as'specified havin the li uid outlet of one connected with t e'liqui inlet of another to cause the crude oil to traverse said stills in succession and also having means whereby said stills can be heated to 'difl'erent temperatures, of vapor condensing from said condenser through said substantially as means connected with the vapor spaces of said stills,-a hydrogen sulfid but-neg, an apparatus for oxidizing sulfur dioxi and a gas line leading from said condensing: means anda gas line between the through said burner to said apparatus, substantially as described.

4. The combination with continuous crude oil stills as specified havin the liquid outlot of one connected with t 1e liquid inlet of another to cause the crude oil to traverse said stills in succession and also having means whereby said stills can be heated to different temperatures, of vapor condensing means for separate condensation of vapors from different stills, a hydrogen sulfid burner, an apparatus for oxidizing sulfur dioxid, a gas line leading from said condensing means through said burner to said up aratus, and valved branch pipes for enabling the gas from particular stills to be gas line, substancut into and out of said tially as described.

5. The combination with continuous crude oil stills as specified having the li uid outlet of one connected with the liqui inlet of another to cause the crude oil to traverse said stills in succession and also having means whereby said stills can be heated-todifl'erent temperatures, of vapor condensing means connected with the vapor spaces of said stills, an apparatus for utilizing the sulfurcontent of hydrogen sulfid, and a gas line between said condensing means and said apparatus, substantially as described.

6. The combination with continuous crude oil stills as specified having the liquid outlet of one connected with the liquid inlet'of another to cause the crude oil to traverse said stills insuccession and also having means whereby saidv stills can be heated to. 'difl'erent' temperatures, of vapor condensing means for separate condensation of vapors from difierent stills, an a )paratus for utilizing the sulfur content 0 b drogen sulfid, a gas line leading from said condensing means to said a. paratus, and valved branch pipes for ena ling the gas from particular stills to be cut into and out of said gas line, substantially as described.

7. The combination with continuous crude oil stillsa's specified having the li uid outlet of one connected with theliqui inlet of another to cause the crude oil to traverse said stills in succession, of an apparatus for utilizing the sulfur content 0 ydrogen sulfid vapor spaces of said stills and said apparatus, substantially as described.

8. The combination with continuous crude 120 oil stills as specified havi the li uid outlet of one connected with t lie liqui inlet of another to cause the crude oil to triiverse said stills in succession and also having means whereby said stillscan be heitted .to. different temperatures, of an apparatus'for utilizing the sulfur content of hydrogen suL" lid, 9. gas line between the vapor spaces of said stills and said apparatus, and valved branch pipes for enabling the gas from par- 130 ticular stills to be cut into and out of said gas line, substantially as described.

9 The combination with a still rovided with a free steam inlet, of -a com enser, a

burner, an apparatus for oxidizing sulfur dioxid, and a gas line leading from Said condenser through said burner to said apparatus, substantially as described.

1.0. The combination with a still provided \10 with a free s-zteani inlet. of aiparutus for utilizing hydrogen sulfid, an a gas line between said still and said apparatus, sub stantially as described.

ll. The (:ombilmtion with a continuous still as pecified provided with a free stean'l inlet, of a condenser, a burner, an apparatus for oxidizing sulfur dioxid, and a. gas line leading from said condenser through said, burner to said-apparatus, substantially as de rrihed.

12. The combination with acontinuous still as specified lirovided with a free steam inlet, of apparatus for utilizing hydrogen sulfid, and a gas line between said still and said uppuratus, substantially described.

13. lhe con'ibinution with the specified series of stills, one of which is provided with a free steam inlet, of a condenser, a burner, an apparatus for oxidizingsulfur dioxid,

and a gusline leading from said condenser through said burner to said apparatus, sub

stantially as described.

14. The combination with the specified series of stills, one of which is provided 85 with a free steam inlet, of apparatus for utilizing hydro n sulfid, and a gas line between said ml and said apparatus, substantially as described.

15. The combination with a still in the form of an elongated horizontal cylinder of 4t several barrels minimum capacity with a liquid inlet at one end and a liquid outlet pipe at the other and opening at the bottom of the cylinder and risln so as to retain a depth of liquid above tEe outlet openin of vapor condensing means connected wit 1 the vapor space of said still, a burner, an apparatus for oxidizing sulfur dioxid, and a gas line leading from said condeusin means to said apparatus through sai burner, substantially as described.

16. The combination with a still in the form of an elongated horizontal cylinder of several barrels minimum capacity with a liquid inlet at one end and a liquid outlet pipe at the other end open' g at the bottom of the c linder and rislng co as to retain a depth 0 li uid above the outlet opening, of apparatus ior utilizing the sulfur content of hydrogen sulfid, and a gas line between said still and said apparatus, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

JOHN E. EGGLESTON.

I \Vitnes'ses:

E. N. Joimsox, A. I. Annom. 

